


When Dreams Come True

by PattRose



Series: The Dreamer Series [7]
Category: The Sentinel
Genre: AU, Angst, Dreams, Kid Fic, M/M, Talk of Rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2015-07-24
Packaged: 2018-04-11 01:51:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4416467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PattRose/pseuds/PattRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>More life with Jim and Blair’s family.  They can finally dream of only good things for the five of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Dreams Come True

When Dreams Come True  
Part 7 of the Dreamer Series  
By PattRose  
Summary: More life with Jim and Blair’s family. They can finally dream of only good things for the five of them.

[ ](http://s71.photobucket.com/user/PattRose1/media/whendreamscometrue_zpshpmy1e8o.jpg.html)

**Three Months after the kids came on board.**

To say Naomi was shocked, was putting it mildly. When Blair called her she had hoped to take him on a trip with her. Instead he gave her the news of his new family situation. 

“What do you mean you now have three children? Blair, you’re never going to have any time to yourself at this rate,” Naomi fussed. 

“Mom, they are wonderful children and I love being a parent. Jim and I think this is the best experience we’ve ever had. You’re going to love meeting them. I told them their grandma would be coming for a visit. Don’t make a liar out of me, okay?” Blair asked, sweetly. 

“Blair, sweetie…I just don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll come soon,” Blair pleaded. 

“I’ll be there this weekend. I’ll take a cab from the airport. I must go meditate now and ready myself for this trip,” Naomi said almost angrily. 

“Mom, don’t bother coming. I can tell you’re going to say or do something to upset the kids and they don’t deserve that. So forget I asked you to come.” Blair hung up the phone without even saying goodbye. He was so pissed. 

Blair had a class to teach and he didn’t have time for this negative energy filling his body. He shook his head to clear it and walked towards his classroom. _Maybe the kids will take my mind off her. I can only hope and pray._

*

After classes were done, he got into his SUV and drove over to day care to pick up the kids. He and Jim had found an awesome day care that people highly recommended. Once they checked it out, they agreed that it was a perfect place for their angels to be while Jim and Blair worked. 

Blair thought that Paige would be better off in an older child’s program, but Paige didn’t want to be taken away from her brother and sister for any reason. Blair finally realized that although she was nine, she really thought she had to take care of the family. Jim told Blair it was going to be a hard habit to break.

*

Blair was a dreamer, but Blair hadn’t had a dream in months. He didn’t know if it was because he had so much going on at the house causing him to be too tired or his gift had left him. Jim thought that the girls should know about Blair’s dreams in case they ever heard anything come from Jim and Blair’s bedroom. But Blair disagreed. And Blair won the argument. He reminded Jim that they weren’t old enough to know these things, just as they weren’t old enough to find out that Jim was a Sentinel. Things would all fall into place as the children got older. Blair didn’t want to put old heads on young shoulders. It was a saying he used to hear and it made sense. Don’t make them grow up too fast because young children lack the experience and wisdom which comes with age. 

*

When Blair came walking through the door of the day care program, Jack came running up to him and threw himself around Blair’s leg. Blair couldn’t help but laugh. The little guy was so dramatic. Then Brooke saw him and smiled and started for him. Paige was the last one to notice he was there. She never ran to him. She was still shy and reserved with both Jim and Blair. The other two children made up for it. Brooke was a handful. And Jack was so damn cute, but a devil in disguise. Paige on the other hand, was an angel in disguise. Blair wondered sometimes if she was happy. You would never know, because she didn’t smile as much as the others or laugh as much. In fact, Blair worried about her a lot. _Maybe she needs to see a good therapist._ Blair thought. 

Paige walked up to him and said, “Jack is fighting the toilet training and the teacher gets mad at him.”

“I’ll talk to his teacher right now. Stay right here,” Blair said as he walked over to Jack’s teacher, who was named Kim. 

“Why hello, Blair. You’re a little early. We’re having some trouble with Jack using the bathroom,” Kim said. 

“Kim, maybe it’s not time for him to be trained yet, did you ever consider that?” 

“But Blair, we like all of our children to be potty-trained by two years old.”

“You didn’t mention that when we enrolled them. I don’t like putting pressure on a child that lost his parents not that long ago.”

“I’m afraid it’s a rule. If you can’t train him, then we can’t take him here,” Kim said coldly. 

Blair noticed they all seemed off that day. “Kim, is there a problem with anything else? Did something happen?”

She moved closer to Blair so she could whisper, “Paige thinks she’s in charge. She fights us on everything. It’s just not working out, Blair.”

“I can understand that, Kim. Thank you for telling me. I’ll find somewhere else to take them from now on.” Blair collected their backpacks and headed to the front door, smiling at his children so they wouldn’t know anything was going on.

When they got in the SUV, Paige said, “I knew they were going to make us leave. They were all acting funny today and weren’t that nice to Brooke, either. But they were mean to Jack. What are we going to do now, Dad?”

Blair thought a moment and answered, “I haven’t a clue, Paige. I’m going to take a leave of absence from school and see if we can’t get all of this worked out.”

Paige thought about that but didn’t comment. She was worried about him missing work and taking them on. 

Blair saw the wheels turning in Paige’s head and finally said, “Who wants to go to Major Crimes and see Daddy?”

Brooke got all excited and said, “I do. Jack is clapping. He wants to see Daddy too.”

“We’ll see if he can get off early and we’ll meet somewhere for dinner. Sound good, Paige?” Blair asked. 

Paige just stared out the window and didn’t answer him. Blair was officially worried about her. She worried about everything and she was too young to have that much on her little mind. 

When they parked at the station they walked inside and all of the traffic cops that were standing there called out a hello to the girls, Jack and Blair. Blair was amazed at how quickly the station house had accepted Jim and Blair’s decision to raise a family. Blair was in awe of everyone for this alone. 

When they stepped off the elevator, Megan walked up and picked Jack up. 

“Jackie, how are you doing?” Megan asked. 

Jack gave her a kiss instead of an answer. Megan loved it. Jim looked over and saw them as he came out of Simon’s office and saw a look of dread on Paige’s face and then saw a matching one on Blair’s. 

Jim walked up and said, “Hello girls. How are you doing?”

Paige decided to cut right to the chase. “I got thrown out of day care today and Dad said he’s going to quit his job to take care of us.”

Jim looked totally confused. _This morning everything was fine and now it isn’t. What the fuck happened?_

“Let me see if I can take off, Blair.”

“Good, we need to take care of some things,” Blair said sounding hopeful for the first time that day. 

Jim walked in to Simon’s office and shut the door. When he came out he was smiling and said, “I’ll meet you at home. Paige, would you like to ride with me?”

“Yes, I would, Daddy.” She slipped her little hand into Jim’s large one and they headed for the elevator. 

Blair said goodbye to everyone as they were leaving. Blair couldn’t wait to talk to Jim. 

*

On the drive home, Jim noticed how quiet Paige was and finally broke the silence himself. 

“So Paige, what happened at day care today?”

“They were mean to Brooke and Jack. They gave Jack time outs for wetting his pants. I tried to tell them that we weren’t potty-training Jack yet, but they said they didn’t care. He cried off and on all day for both of you.”

Jim was angry. First he was angry with the day care for not informing them of what was going on. Second he was angry at himself for not knowing this shit. And thirdly he was angry at Paige for thinking she had to take care of her family. That was him and Blair’s job. Not hers. 

“Paige, you do know that it’s our job to do the worrying, right?”

“I knew you were going to be angry at me, Daddy. I’m sorry.”

“Paige, don’t be sorry. Just be a child. You’re not the parent. Leave that to me and Blair. It’s our job now. I’m going to be with you every day for a while. Blair will continue teaching and I’ll figure out what we’re going to do next. I need you to trust me, okay?”

Jim pulled into his garage and shut the car off. “Let’s get inside and wait for the others. Maybe we should start something for dinner. Would you like to help me make something?”

“I think you should call Mrs. Marshall and tell her that we’re too much for you to handle.” And then she rushed into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. 

Jim knocked on her door and opened it. “Paige I’m not calling anyone. We are a family. Through thick and thin. We’re going to be all right.”

“I don’t understand what that means,” Paige said, still sobbing. 

“It means that we’re going to have good days and bad days, but it doesn’t matter. We’re going to be together. So everything will work out. I need you to relax and stop worrying.” Jim sat next to her on the bed and hugged her close. 

She buried her face into Jim’s shirt and cried her heart out. “I don’t want to move.”

“You’re not moving, Paige and neither is Jack or Brooke. We’re a family. We’re in this together. Now I want you to nap and think about what I said. We’ll talk after dinner.”

*

When Blair came through the house, he had stopped for take-0ut and asked where Paige was. Jim told him where she was and what she had said. Brooke and Jack went into their rooms to play. 

“I’ll call my advisor and tell them I want family leave for a few months,” Blair said. 

“No need. I talked to Simon and he’s got me on family leave starting tomorrow. I told him I needed at least two months. He was more than happy to do it for me. He wants the kids to be happy.”

“I was going to do it, Jim. I think your job is a little more important than mine,” Blair pointed out. 

“And I think you’re not seeing the big picture. I wanted to take the time off so that you could still teach. You work less hours than I do, so we’ll have more time together and everything else. It’s a win-win situation.”

“Thank you, man. You’re so thoughtful.”

“Actually, Blair, I was thinking about you and me having private time while the kids were gone. So don’t think I’m being all noble. We have had little time together in the last three months. I thought this might help improve our lives.”

“We’ll have to start from scratch. I think we should have someone come into our home this time. What do you think?” Blair asked. 

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking t00.”

Blair pulled Jim down for a quick kiss and said, “Go get the kids and we’ll have an early dinner. Then we’ll get them ready for bed and we’ll talk about things.”

Jim did just that. The four of them came walking into the kitchen and Blair’s face lit up with a huge smile. “I love family time,” he said. 

“You’re always so happy, Dad,” Paige said. 

“I am happy. Daddy is taking some time off to find someone to come to the house to stay with you kids. You and Brooke can ride the bus to school and little Jack will be happy at home. And don’t you worry about when he’s going to be potty-trained. Some children take longer. He’s had a lot happen to him lately and we’ll cut him some slack. Okay?”

“I don’t understand why you want to keep us,” she said.

Brooke looked up from dinner and said, “You’re not going to keep us?”

“Yes, Brooke, we’re keeping all of you. Paige is just worrying like she always does. We’re a family. We only have three more months and you’ll have a new last name and everything.”

Paige began to eat, which was a good sign. Jack was shoving all his food into his mouth at the same time, making Blair, Jim and the girls laugh. 

“I’ve never seen anyone love food the way he does,” Jim admitted. 

“Daddy, I think you love food that much too,” Brooke added and Blair burst out laughing. 

“You are so right, Brooke. Daddy does love to eat.”

“Very funny, you two,” Jim said, laughing. 

“Oh guess what, kids?” Blair asked. 

Brooke and Paige said at the same time, “What?”

“Your Grandma will be here sometime this weekend to meet all of you.”

“We have other grandma’s beside Grandma Becky?” Brooke asked. 

“It’s my mom. She would be your grandma. She’s dying to meet all of you,” Blair added. 

“We’ll be really good, Dad,” Paige promised. 

“You’re always really good. So don’t worry about it,” Blair reminded her. 

Brooke was bouncing in her seat and said, “I can’t wait to meet her. Is she as nice as Grandma Becky?”

Jim answered, “She’s very sweet. You’re going to love her. Now, let’s get baths taken and get ready for bed.”

Paige said, “It’s sort of early for that Daddy.”

“You can play in your rooms after we’re done. How does that sound?” Jim asked. 

Brooke jumped up and shouted, “Me first.”

Paige took a shower in her bathroom and got her pajamas on. Before long, Blair had Brooke and Jack all ready, also. Jim was in watching the news and Paige sat down next to him and asked, “Can I watch the news with you, Daddy?”

“You know you can hang out with me anytime, Paige. I wanted to see what the weather will be like tomorrow. Can you tell me what it looks like to you?”

She glanced at the television and finally said, “It’s going to be 62 degrees and rainy.”

“Good job, that’s exactly what those numbers mean. You’re a quick study,” Jim said, kissing her on the top of her head. 

“What does that mean, Daddy?”

“A quick study means you’re smart as can be. Sometimes a little too smart. I want you to promise me that you’re going to try and let me and Blair do the worrying around here. It’s our job, Paige. And we love it.”

“I promise. I will try harder. Do we get to help pick out the sitter?” she wondered. 

“You’ll be at school tomorrow while I look, so no. But, she will come back at night to meet you kids and then you can tell us what you think of her or him.”

“Do you think a man would want the job?” Paige asked. 

“Probably not, but we’ll find out in the next few days. Now the news is coming on. Let’s see what’s happening in our fair city.”

Brooke came running around the corner almost throwing her little body into the wall and jumped on top of Jim. 

“Umph…” Jim said. 

“Brooke, you have to be careful. He’s our daddy not a jungle gym. Now settle down.”

“Sorry, Daddy,” Brooke said, sheepishly. “I brought some books for you to read to us. Paige loves this book.”

“I do not,” Paige replied. 

Brooke laughed at her and said, “Do too. Daddy’s going to read your favorite book.”

Jim could see that Paige was getting upset. “Brooke, don’t tease Paige. It’s not nice. You wouldn’t like it if she teased you, am I right?”

“I guess so. Sorry, Paige.” Brooke jumped off Jim’s lap for a moment and hugged her sister tight. “Let’s sit with Daddy and have him read my favorite book.”

“Okay,” Paige agreed. 

Blair came walking in carrying the lug. Jack was a good sized baby and he was heavy for his age. 

“Look, Jack, Daddy is going to read a book,” Blair said. 

“Blocks. Blocks.” Jack pointed to his blocks that were across the room and fussed to get down so he could get them. 

“I guess he’d rather build blocks,” Blair said snickering. 

Jim ended up reading four books and Jack almost fell asleep building something that looked like a broken castle. Jim saw it was 8:30 and said, “Bedtime, girls.”

“Daddy, I’m way older than Brooke. Why do I have to go to bed at the same time?”

Jim thought on that for a moment and said, “You can sit in your room and read or write something until 9:00. That’s your new bedtime.”

Paige’s face lit up and she went running for her room. “Night Brooke and Jack. See you tomorrow. Have good dreams.”

Jim grabbed Brooke and carried her to her room because she was almost asleep. He tucked her into bed and kissed her on the top of the head. “I love you, Brooke.”

“I love you too, Daddy.”

Blair came in and said, “Jack is already asleep. Let me give my princess a kiss goodnight.”

Brooke hugged Blair tight and then rolled on her side. She was asleep within moments. 

As they walked past Paige’s room, they saw Paige writing in her journal. Blair had taught her how to keep one and was impressed that she was actually doing it. Jim leaned down and kissed her on the head. “Twenty minutes, Paige.”

“I’m tired now. Tomorrow I’ll try and stay up later. Goodnight Daddy and Dad. I love you both.”

Blair kissed her and said, “We love you too, pumpkin.”

“Sweet dreams,” Jim called out over his shoulder as he switched her light off. 

Once they got out to the living room they finished watching the news and then yawned. Blair pulled Jim off the sofa, grabbing the remote, shutting it off and they headed into the bedroom.

*

The next morning, Jim was making breakfast for the girls and had them all ready to go to school at 7:30. He and Jack drove the girls to the school and Jim parked. He had to go inside and sign them up for the bus. That day, Jack didn’t want to be carried at all. He wanted to walk with all the big kids. 

Jim didn’t let him though. There were too many hurrying to classes. Jim got the girls to their rooms and then went to the office. He filled out the form for the bus and they told him where it would pick the girls up. The aide said that she would put the girls on the bus that afternoon, so Jim could pick them up at the bus stop that day. Thankfully, it was right at the corner. Jim was relieved at that news. Once they were done, he set Jack down and they walked to the SUV for the drive home. 

*

Jim started calling agencies that had nannies or child care provider’s that came to the house. While Jack was napping, Jim made four appointments. Three of them were going to college at night and this made Jim smile. He liked the idea of a smart girl watching his children. Yes, Jim felt good about finding someone and soon. 

*

The school called and reminded Jim they would put Paige and Brooke on the school bus that afternoon, so Jim had to meet them at 3:00. Jim couldn’t believe how well the day was going. Jim had taken some meat out of the freezer so he could make dinner once the girls got home. They would help watch Jack. He was a handful. 

*

At 3:00 the bus drove up and out walked Brooke and Paige both looking quite proud of themselves for taking the bus all by themselves. The girls kissed Jack in his stroller and then Jim gave them each a hug. They walked to the house and Jim asked them all the important questions. Like how was your day? Did you learn anything new today? Jim liked to ask this every day hoping to hear good things from both girls.

Brooke asked if she could swing on the swing set with Jack when they got home. 

“I’m going to let you both because I’m going to make dinner ahead of time. I’ll watch from the window.”

“Daddy, I don’t mind watching them,” Paige offered. 

“I’m sure you have homework, Paige.”

“I could do it while I watch them,” she replied. 

“Okay, you talked me into it. I’ll be watching out the big window over the sink too. Call me if you need me for help with homework,” Jim said. 

*

When Blair came walking into the house at 4:30, he was bone tired and the house smelled so good. Jim was making the Italian Chicken that he loved to cook. Blair was instantly starving. He walked into the kitchen and Jim was staring out the big window watching the kiddo’s. Blair walked up and hugged him. 

“You look good enough to eat, big guy.”

“Thanks, Chief. I finished dinner. We can eat at soon as you’re ready. The kids have been playing for the last hour and a half. They took the bus home today. Paige and Brooke were quite proud of themselves. Brooke might have homework to do, but Paige is done with hers.”

Blair rubbed Jim’s ass and said, “Good job, Daddy.” Then Blair walked out to greet his family. 

*

After dinner, Blair helped with homework for Brooke and Jim gave Jack a bath. Paige of course took her shower without even being asked. They were all into a routine and it was working out quite well.

At 9:00 they were all sleeping and Jim and Blair were talking in the living room. 

“I have four interviews tomorrow for nannies. Wish me luck,” Jim said. 

“You’re going to run a check on all of them, right?”

“Blair, I can’t do that. It’s against the law.”

“These are our babies, Jim. Or do you think you’ll know someone that’s good by using your senses?”

“We’ll work it out, babe. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired.”

Both men shut all the lights out, checked all the locks and looked in on the little ones one last time. 

*

_My name is Jennifer and I’m a student at night. I’m going to be a teacher when I’m all done with college. It would be good practice helping the girls with their homework before you got home. And it’s not unusual for 2 year olds to be a little slow with potty-training.”_

Blair was finally dreaming. The girl that was talking was lovely. She had jet black hair cut very short, bright blue eyes and was only about 20 years old. She was almost as tall as Jim when they stood up. Jim seemed to like her a great deal. Blair was getting a good vibe off her also. She was studying to be a math teacher K-6 grades. She asked as many questions as Jim did. Blair really liked this girl and Jim hadn’t even met her yet. Blair knew this was a peaceful dream and he couldn’t ask for anything better.

[ ](http://s71.photobucket.com/user/PattRose1/media/simplicity-is-key-cute-smooth-dark-hairstyle_zpsysvpwlg8.jpg.html)

Then he dreamed of his mother coming. That wasn’t such a nice dream. His mother was angry that Blair had given his life up for three children that weren’t even his.

Blair was arguing with her and the children were crying. Blair sat up in bed and Jim asked, “Bad dream?”

“No, I had a wonderful dream about a babysitter named Jennifer. She’s not only beautiful but smart and cares for children. Think about her. I got good vibes off her. Then it was ruined by the dream about my mom coming this weekend. She was being a total bitch. She’s mad at me for giving up my life for you and three children that aren’t even mine.”

Jim pulled Blair into his arms and they kissed. “I’m sorry, Blair. Things will work out. If she starts in on the kids, I’m not going to be nice about it. I expect them to be treated as our children and with respect.”

“Good… I won’t worry so much. You’ve got my back.”

“I always will.”

*

The following day Jim had three of the interviews and none of them seemed too great. But the last one was named Jennifer and Blair had a good feeling about her, so Jim was going to keep an open mind. 

She came at 1:00 and they finished the interview at 2:45. She said she would walk down to the corner with Jim and Jack so the girls could get used to her picking them up.

Jim liked her a great deal. She was good with Jack and was willing to work pretty good hours. Blair would be home daily by 4:30 at the latest. And her classes started at 6:30. It was perfect.

When the girls got off the bus, they eyeballed Jennifer and went and stood by their daddy. “Girls, this is your new caretaker, Jennifer. Jennifer this is Brooke who is six and Paige who is nine. Girls, Jennifer will be taking over in two days. You have to promise to be as good as you are for me and Dad. Okay?”

Brooke smiled at her daddy and said, “Okay.” She then put her little hand inside Jennifer’s hand and started the walk home. 

Paige walked with Jim and Jack and she whispered, “She seems nice, Daddy.”

“She is nice, Paige. But she’ll probably need a little help to start with. Do you think you can help her out?”

“Oh yeah, I’d be glad to help her out,” Paige said as she walked faster and caught up to Jennifer. 

They only lived four houses away from the bus stop, but those three girls were talking up a storm. Jim just smiled and wondered if he had made the right choice. 

When they got inside the house, each of the girls showed Jennifer their rooms and showed her their homework for the night. Jennifer stayed until Blair got home at 4:00. 

“Blair, this is our new caretaker, Jennifer. She doesn’t like being called a babysitter or a nanny. Jennifer, this is my better half, Blair Sandburg.”

Jennifer put her hand out to shake and said, “It’s so good to meet you. I’m starting in two days. Will you always be home about this time?”

“Yes, if not earlier. I’m a teacher at the university and a paid observer at the police station. But we can be here about this time every day. At least one of us, anyhow.”

Brooke came out and hugged Blair. “Dad did you see how beautiful Jennifer is? She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Jennifer laughed. “Keep in mind, she’s had a short life so far.”  
Jim and Blair laughed. They liked her a great deal. Jim gave her the papers to study before her first day. It had everyone’s schedule, addresses of the school, phone numbers of school, the station, Jim, Blair and Grandpa Ellison and anyone else they could think of. 

Jennifer was all set and left for the day. The kids were sad to see her go, which was a very good sign indeed. 

Jim thought, _One problem taken care of. Now if we can just get through Naomi without a hitch we’ll have it made._

*

Naomi called Blair Saturday morning and said she couldn’t make it as she had planned. She said she would meet the children in a month or two. Blair was disappointed, but relieved at the same time. 

*

William called Jim at work one day and asked, “Do you think I could have Brooke and Paige this weekend? I wanted to take them to a movie. I don’t have a spare room, so they would have to bring sleeping bags for the living room. Would that work?”

“I don’t know, Dad. I’ll have to see how they feel about it. They’ve never been away from us in five months. They might freak out.”

“You could ask them, right?” William pleaded. 

“It’s a cartoon you want to see and you’re embarrassed to go alone, correct?”

William laughed and said, “You can see right through me.”

“I’ll ask them and call you tonight.”

“Thanks, Jimmy. Have a good rest of the day,” William said before he hung up his phone. 

*

The girls ended up going to William’s house and having a great time sleeping out in the living room. William had the girl make S’mores and they pretended they were camping. Then William told them he would be taking them camping during the summer for real. William enjoyed them like crazy. They promised each other that they would do it again, soon. 

Jim and Blair had some actual quality time with sleeping Jack and both felt good about that. 

*

 _The woman was all alone, her husband was out of town. She walked into the bedroom and was grabbed from behind and a knife put up to her throat. There was blood underneath her fingernails from scratching him on his neck, arms, chest and face. She put up a good fight, but he kept cutting her throat each time she did, so she lay there while he raped her and left her for someone else to find, but not before he grabbed her cane. She couldn’t see his face because she was blind. She never felt so helpless in her life._

_Once she was certain he was gone, she called 911 and screamed for help. She just waited for them to show up after that._

Blair sat up in bed and got his sketch pad out. He started drawing like crazy. Because although the woman had been blind, Blair wasn’t. He got a good look at the rapist and was going to see to it that he didn’t get away with this. Jim sat and watched him drawing, in awe of what Blair could do with a sketch pad and pencil. 

Once he was done, he turned to Jim and asked, “Do you have any blind rape victims?”

“Oh god, you had a dream about them? We’re never going to catch him. We can’t id him. There are four so far. We have another?” Jim asked. 

“Yes, except this time, I saw him looking at her while he was raping her. I’ve seen him before. I just can’t remember where.”

Jim looked at the picture and said, “Fuck…”

“What? You recognize him?”

Jim ran his hand across his face and sighed. “This is the man that owns the flower shop around the corner from the station. I know it’s him. It looks just like him.”

“This last girl scratched him. So maybe you’ll get lucky.”

“Where did she scratch him?” Jim asked. 

“In the chest, arm, neck and face. She tried to stop him, Jim.”

“Good. I’ll have a look at him today and I’ll see if he’s bruised or scratched. I would give anything to have a lead this time.”

“I hope it helps. And one more thing, he took her cane? Why would he take her cane?”

“Maybe his parent was blind and used to hit him with it. Hell, I don’t know. We’ll get a search warrant if he’s got scratches. Did he talk to her?”

“Yes, he talked to her and warned her not to scream. So she’ll know his voice.”

“I’m going to go in now. Can you get the kids off this morning?” Jim wondered. 

“You know I can. Go get a rapist off the street, Jim. Find a reason for a search warrant. A tip got called in saying they saw him leaving that house. Make up something to get this bastard.”

“I promise, we’ll get him.” Jim jumped in the shower and left as soon as he was dressed. 

*

Blair got the kids up and ready and Jennifer got there with plenty of time to take the girls to the bus stop. Blair still hadn’t heard from Jim, so he hoped that meant good things. 

*

Blair was in his office at the uni and Simon walked in after he knocked. “I have a question.”

“I have answers I haven’t even used today. Shoot.”

“Have you ever been dead wrong about a picture?”

“I’ve been wrong about many things, but the picture was just how I saw him. I take it, it wasn’t him.”

“No scratches and no bruising that we could see. And Jim said there was no makeup to cover anything up either. The man was clean.”

“Does he have a brother or anything?” 

“Jim is checking that out as we speak. I just wondered if you thought you might have seen him yesterday and he was on your mind when you had the dream.”

“Simon, it doesn’t work like that. When I see a face, it’s the face that is there with the victim. I’ve never drawn a bad sketch.”

“Okay, we’ll keep looking. Jim told me the same thing, but I needed to ask. It’s not like we can ask the man himself.”

“Why not? You couldn’t in passing say you saw someone that looked just like him? I would ask that.”

“Are you off now?” Simon asked. 

Blair smiled and said, “I think I’m going to go and get some flowers for Jim. I’ll see you later.”

“Talk to you soon, Blair.”

Simon walked out the door and shut it softly. Blair grabbed his jacket and walked out next. 

*

Blair walked into the flower shop and saw the man from his dream and said, “Wow, I could have sworn I just saw you on the other side of town.”

“Nope, I’ve been here all morning long. I wish I was out running around, you know? Now, what can I do for you?”

“I’d like a half-dozen roses please.”

While he was getting them ready, Blair said, “I’m just so blown away. Have you ever had anyone ask if you have a twin or anything?”

“I’m an only child,” the man answered, smiling. 

“He looked just like you. It’s sort of weird.”

“Are you going to take the flowers with you?”

“Yes, I’ll fill the card out here. Thank you,” Blair handed him his visa card and wrote while the man rang up the purchase. Blair was so disappointed.  
But he took the flowers, the card, and the receipt before he left the building. 

When he got up to Major Crimes, Jim looked mad. 

“Chief, what the fuck? Simon just told me what you were doing? I don’t want you around him until I find out more about him.”

“Jim, he’s an only child. He doesn’t have a twin and I have no idea why I drew him as the rapist. I’m sorry for sending you on a wild goose chase.”

“He was adopted. I just found that out. Maybe he has a brother he doesn’t know about.”

“Well, that would sure be depressing, wouldn’t it?”

“I guess it would be, if you found out that your brother was a sick bastard,” Jim growled. 

“Don’t give up yet. You’ll find something, Jim. I just know it.”

“I don’t plan on giving up, Blair. It’s my job to find this fucker.”

Blair could tell that Jim was frustrated and wished he could help in some way. 

Jim did some digging and found the birth records for Cascade the day the florist was born. Jim had gotten his name off his business license. There was one set of twins born that day, so he went from there. After he dug more, he found out they each went to different homes. Separated at birth instead of keeping them together. Jim didn’t understand that at all. As Jim dug further he found out that one of them was adopted by a couple and the mother was blind. Jim had to jump through hoops to get these records opened and he had hit pay dirt. The mother must have been abusive causing the man to act out with rape and taking their canes at the end. Jim got his name, address, place of work and the team headed out to question him. It’s not like they could arrest him, but if he had scratches they could say a tip was called in and gave his name. Then they could run the DNA and go from there. Jim had a feeling that the man would have scratches and they would have reasonable cause to take him to the station for questioning.

When they got there, the man that looked exactly like the florist was covered in scratches and bruises. They read him his rights and took him downtown for questioning. He didn’t say a word. Jim knew it was him and he knew that Jim knew. 

*

When Jim got home that night at 9:00, the house was quiet. The kids were all in bed and Blair was sitting on the sofa, sleeping sitting up. Jim went to him and kissed him awake. 

“Man, I was beginning to think you were never coming home.”

“Sorry, babe. I had to finish this case up and get it closed. Thank you for the dream and the help. We got a sadistic rapist off the street because of you.”

“You are very welcome. Are you hungry?”

“Starving,” Jim answered. 

“Come on, I’ll make you dinner while you fill me in on the case. I can’t believe how fast you wrapped it up.”

“It helped having the records open to us. Otherwise I would have still been working on it.”

“I’m glad you’re home, Jim. Safe and sound. We’ll eat and then sleep all night and hold each other.”

“Sounds Perfect. Were the kids upset because I wasn’t home by bedtime?”

“No, I told them you were getting a killer off the street. I didn’t want to explain what a rapist was.”

“Works for me. I love having a family to come home to after a hard day at work. I think we made the right decision. And I’m so glad our kids weren’t separated for adoption.”

“One more month, Jim and they will be legally ours.”

“Perfect way to end the day.”

The end


End file.
